Shrinking Cities Literature ///
Tu, Sept. 28, 6-10 p.m.
Roter Salon, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, 10178 Berlin
Readings/discussions in cooperation with the internationalen literaturfestival berlin. Concept: Nicole Minten. Admission: complete ticket 8 €, panel discussion only 5 €, Tickets at the box office
Literature reflects the life reality of urban residents - their dreams and fears, their working and living conditions. On the other hand, it expresses criticism of and develops counter-models to current city planning. In the framework of this event, authors will read from works set in shrinking cities, and literary historians, filmmakers, and sociologists will discuss the city as a literary and cinematic topos through the course of time and in changing economic and societal systems.
5 p.m. | Reading by Linda Grant: "Still Here" Eng./with Ger. translation
Linda Grant, born in Liverpool in 1951, works as a journalist and author in London ("The Cast Iron Shore", "When I Lived In Modern Times"). She will read from her novel "Still Here" (2002). Moderation: Tobias Doering (literary historian, Berlin).
6 p.m. | Reading by Juri Andruchovich: "Mein Europa"
Juri Andruchovich, born in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine in 1960, is one of the most controversial authors in contemporary Ukrainian literature. He will read from his volumes of essays "Das letzte Territorium" (2003) and "Mein Europa" (2004). Moderation: Arno Widmann (journalist/translator, Berlin).
7 p.m. | Reading by Kathrin Schmidt: "Koenigs Kinder"
Kathrin Schmidt, born in Gotha in 1958, became known in 1998 with her novel "Die Gunnar-Lennefsen-Expedition". She will read from her novel "Koenigs Kinder" (2002).
8:30 p.m. | "(Schrumpf-)Stadt als literarischer Topos" ["The (Shrunken) City as a Literary Topos"]
Panel discussion with Heinz Ickstadt (literary historian, Berlin), Andreas Kleinert (film director, Berlin), Michael Rutschky (author, Berlin), Sigrid Weigel (cultural researcher, Berlin). Moderation: Walter Prigge (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation). The panel discussion will be broadcast on Oct. 31,. 2004 from 0:05 to 1:00 a.m. by DeutschlandRadio Berlin.